When I worked for Nissan as a service advisor, I had someone come in in an Armada that really erked me. She had bought it new, it now had 30k miles and needed some normal preventative maintenance. Long story short, she told me she couldn't afford it. I asked her why she spend 40 grand on a brand new vehicle and won't even do basic maintenance to keep it going? What is the point? A well maintained vehicle makes it reliable, no matter how new or old... I just don't get it. People that buy brand new cars and don't take care of them (wash, vac, change the oil....) really makes me crazy.
I bought an 05 buick minivan at auction (it runs) for less than $1000 with less than 100k miles. No one wanted to spend more than that for a vehicle that books for 8 grand because it was so badly trashed. Not the body, mechanically ignored and absolutely trashed interior. Its a one owner van. Bought new for 25k and reduced to under a grand in only 7 years due to a negligent owner... Why not buy something used for a lot less money if all you are going to do is trash it and destroy the resale value?